The Blessed One was staying
in Rajagrha at Vulture Peak along with a great community of monks and
great community of bodhisattvas, and at that time, the Blessed One fully
entered the meditative concentration on the varieties of phenomena called
the Appearance of the Profound. At that very time as well, holy Avalokitsevara,
the bodhisattva, the great being, beheld the practice itself of the profound
perfection of wisdom, and he even saw the five aggregates as empty of
inherent nature. Thereupon, through the Buddha's inspiration, the venerable
Sariputra spoke to holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being,
and said, "Any noble son who wishes to engage in the practice of the profound
perfection of wisdom should train in what way?"

When this had been said, holy
Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, spoke to venerable Sariputra
and said, "Sariputra, any noble sons or daughters who wish to practice
the perfection of wisdom should see this way: they should see insightfully,
correctly, and repeatedly that even the five aggregates are empty of inherent
nature. Form is empty, emptiness is form, Emptiness is not other than
form, form is also not other than emptiness. Likewise, sensation, discrimination,
conditioning, and awareness are empty. In this way, Sariputra, all things
are emptiness; they are without defining characteristics; they are not
born, they do not cease, they are not defiled, they are not undefiled.
They have no increase, they have no decrease.

"Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness
there is no form, no sensation, no discrimination, no conditioning, and
no awareness. There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no
mind. There is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no texture, no phenomenon.
There is no eye-element and so on up to no mind-element and also up to
no element of mental awareness. There is no ignorance and no elimination
of ignorance and so on up to no aging and death and no elimination of
aging and death. Likewise, there is no suffering, origin, cessation, or
path; there is no wisdom, no attainment, and even no non-attainment.

"Therefore, Sariputra, since
the bodhisattvas have no obtainments, they abide relying on the perfection
of wisdom. Having no defilements in their minds, they have no fear, and
passing completely beyond error, they reach nirvana. Likewise, all the
Buddhas abiding in the three times clearly and completely awaken to unexcelled,
authentic, and complete awakening in dependence upon the perfection of
wisdom.

"Therefore, one should know
that the mantra of the perfection of wisdom - the mantra of great knowledge,
the precious mantra, the unexcelled mantra, the mantra equal to the unequalled,
the mantra that quells all suffering - is true because it is not deceptive.
The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is proclaimed:

tadyatha - gate gate paragate
parasamgate bodhi svaha!

Sariputra, a bodhisattva, a
great being, should train in the profound perfection of wisdom in that
way."

Thereupon, the Blessed One
arose for that meditative concentration, and he commended holy Avalokitsevara,
the bodhisattva, the great being. "Excellent!" he said. "Excellent! Excellent!
Noble child, it is just so. Noble child, it is just so. One should practice
the profound perfection of wisdom in the manner that you have revealed
- the Tathagatas rejoice!" This is what the Blessed One said.

Thereupon, the venerable Sariputra,
the holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, and that entire
assembly along with the world of gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas,
all rejoiced and highly praised what the Blessed One had said.